vaclab-local

A local vaclab clone based on Rancher Desktop. This repository helps you build a functional single-node cluster clone of the original vaclab environment with monitoring, logging, and other required components exposed through local ingresses.

Project Status

Feature/Component	Status
Original vaclab VictoriaMetrics setup	✅ OK
Original vaclab VictoriaLogs setup	✅ OK
Grafana clone	✅ OK
Ingress (no port forwarding)	✅ OK
Tested on Linux	✅ OK
Tested on Mac	❌ Not yet
External/P2P access (from other laptop)	❌ Not yet
Tested on Windows	✅ OK
Documentation	⚠️ Partial

Local Domains

For easy access, all services are exposed via localtest.me using ingress (no TLS used for now, everything is exposed through http)

• Grafana at: http://grafana.localtest.me
• VictoriaLogs at: http://vselect.localtest.me

Architecture

• Kubernetes (Rancher Desktop): Local single-node K3S cluster
• Traefik: Ingress controller for local domains (e.g., grafana.localtest.me and vselect.localtest.me)
• VictoriaMetrics: Metrics monitoring stack
• VictoriaLogs: Centralized log management
• Grafana: Dashboards for metrics and logs

---

📦 Prerequisites

• Rancher Desktop (latest)
• OS: Linux (Debian recommended) or macOS
• Linux only: To allow Traefik to bind to port 80:
  1. Copy the provided sysctl config file:

     sudo cp 99-vaclab.sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.d/
     

  2. Apply the new sysctl settings:

     sudo sysctl --system
     

  By default, Linux restricts binding to ports <1024 to root. The sysctl config sets net.ipv4.ip_unprivileged_port_start=80, allowing Traefik (running as non-root in Kubernetes) to listen on port 80. This step is not required on macOS or Windows.

🖥️ Rancher Desktop Setup

1. Install Rancher Desktop

   • Follow the official instructions for your platform: Rancher Desktop Installation Guide

   Note: Rancher Desktop provides kubectl and helm binaries in ~/.rd/bin/. You do not need to install them separately.

2. First Launch:

   • Enable Kubernetes in the UI (toggle the Kubernetes option).
   • Select Kubernetes version v1.33.6 (stable) for best compatibility.
   • Choose containerd as your container runtime.

   with Docker some metric labels are not exported by cadvisor.

   • Wait for Rancher Desktop to finish provisioning the cluster. The Cluster Dashboard menu will become clickable when ready.

3. Environment Setup:

   • After enabling Kubernetes, ensure your shell exports the Rancher Desktop binaries:

     source ~/.bashrc
     # Or for zsh:
     source ~/.zshrc
     

   • Confirm kubectl and helm are available:

     which kubectl
     which helm
     # Should show ~/.rd/bin/kubectl and ~/.rd/bin/helm
     

🚀 Quick Start

1. Review and edit values files if needed (optional):
   • vmetrics.values.yaml (VictoriaMetrics monitoring stack)
   • vlogs.values.yaml (VictoriaLogs stack)
2. Run the setup script:

   sh setup.sh
   

   Note: Run as a regular user (not with sudo)

🛠️ Troubleshooting

• If you see permission errors, ensure you run the script as a regular user.
• If kubectl or helm are not found, make sure Rancher Desktop is installed, Kubernetes is enabled, and your shell is sourced.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open issues or pull requests for improvements, bug fixes, or new features.

💬 Support

For questions or help, open an issue or contact the maintainers via GitHub or Discord.